baked gingerbread protein donuts with vanilla frosting

Did you put up the tree yet? We dove into the decorating last night and each time we pull out those decorations I am reminded that I need to up my home organization skills a notch. I baffle myself because I'm very organized at work but boxes of ornaments and tinsel are not my strength.  I keep seeing these beautifully organized Christmas decorations in dedicated ornament caddys on the Hallmark channel.  I didn't even know that was a thing....it's like a fishing tackle box on wheels or a caboodle (remember those?) for home decorating.  Anyway, here I am pulling out the tangled mess out of Tupperware boxes like Chevy Chase and his Christmas lights in Christmas vacation.  One of my goals going into 2020 may be home organization for some extra peace.  I'll gladly take any tips or resources you may have.

Moving to this recipe, donuts are always a good idea and this version is a baked protein donut for some festive flavors with a wholesome twist.  I love indulging over the holidays but I also like to keep fueling and moving too.  These donuts could be baked as muffins too if you don't have a donut pan but the baking time would need to be adjusted.  I use a few ingredients here where you can swap in your own preferences.  I use Swerve for a refined sugar sweetener alternative.  I use Kodiak pancake mix for the protein pancake mix and Devotion Angel Food Cake protein powder.  This post isn't sponsored by these brands but I like how they bake! So brew some coffee and let's get baking.

Ingredients

For the Donut
-3 eggs
-1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
-1/4 cup molasses
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/3 cup Swerve or your choice of sweetener alternative
-1 cup of Kodiak protein pancake mix (I used their Buttermilk & Honey pancake mix) or your choice of protein pancake mix
-2 scoops Devotion Angel Food Cake Protein Powder or your choice of protein powder
-2 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp ginger
-1/4 tsp ground cloves
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt

For the Frosting
-8 TBS unsweetened vanilla almond milk
-2 scoops Devotion Angel Food Cake Protein Powder
-festive sprinkles (optional but recommended)

Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and use non-stick cooking spray to coat the donut pan.  In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, almond milk, molasses, vanilla and Swerve or sweetener alternative.  Add in the dry ingredients of the protein pancake mix, protein powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, baking powder and salt.  Mix until thoroughly combined.

Spoon the batter into the wells of the donut pan. Or, if you would like to be more neat and precise, pour the batter into a pastry bag and pipe the batter into the pans.  The wells of the pan will be full.  Gently tap the pan on the counter a few times to help the batter settle and smooth out the top of the batter with a knife or off set spatula.

Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool in to the pans for at least 20 minutes before removing.  These baked donuts rise a lot.  While cooling, mix together the frosting by combining the protein powder and almonst milk.  Stir together and allow to sit and thicken for a few minutes.

Once the donuts are cooled, spread the frosting over the tops of the donuts with a knife or spoon and dust them with your holiday sprinkles. 

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!